In December we hosted a fascinating talk by representatives of the Tokyo English Life Line, a telephone service that provides trained counselors to give information and a listening ear to callers in crisis situations or who simply need someone to talk to.

The assistant director of the organization, Ms. Vickie Skorji, has asked us to announce the upcoming training program for new TELL volunteer phone counselors. Anyone interested in this very worthy work, should refer to the information about the training at this site: http://www.telljp.com/index.php?/en/counselor_training_program/.
You may download the application form by clicking HERE.

When Ms. Vickie Skorji and Ms. Lori Wigmore  gave their talk for students and teachers in the IE Program they used this PPT, which gives information about the Tokyo English Life Line, cultural adjustment/ culture shock, how to cope with the everyday stresses of university life, ways to identify the signs of suicide risk, and the power of listening. Refer to a handout provided by the speakers for further information on how to get help in times of trouble. You may also be interested in making use of some free, downloadable Relaxation Audio Exercises.

TELL’s homepage can be found at: http://www.telljp.com/ . They also offer an extremely useful wiki at: http://www.bluejava.com/tell/index.html.